Removing asbestos desks costly

Published 12:00 am, Monday, March 27, 2006

It would cost Danbury High School tens of thousands of dollars to replace all the desks containing asbestos in the building, officials said.

That revelation came last week, after a new custodian on Wednesday drilled quarter inch holes into three black-topped science laboratory tables.
The accident let loose some asbestos dust sent school officials scrambling. The classroom was vacant at the time, but the ventilation system was immediately shut down and the wing of the school sealed off.
Tests were run in the affected classrooms, notes were sent home with students and environmental clean-up experts with special vacuums were brought in Friday, a day when students were not in the school because of long-planned teacher workshops.
"We replace desks one an as-needed basis, but is this something we want to look into now? Yes,'' said Danbury High School principal

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The trouble is money. The science desks would cost up to $1,000 apiece to replace and Danbury High might have a couple of hundred. Even 100 new science desks would cost the district $100,000.
Asbestos was commonly used in building materials and flame resistant items into the 1970s. Then scientists found that tiny asbestos fibers inhaled into the lungs could cause cancer and other breathing disorders.
Researchers generally agree there is little health risk unless someone is exposed to loose asbestos over long periods. Asbestos sealed inside other surfaces - including desks, floor tiles and pipe insulation - is also permissible. Still, many school districts have taken aggressive steps to remove asbestos; Brookfield has spent millions of dollars in recent years.
"As we do renovations the materials are removed from the classrooms,'' said Danbury Superintendent

Eddie Davis
. He said asbestos has been removed from
Broadview Middle School
during renovations.
Davis said he would like to get new science desks as soon as possible. "Would we very much like to remove all these things? Yes," he said. But that's not financially feasible.
"We know we have asbestos materials, but they are not hazardous if they are managed and maintained appropriately," Davis said.
Angelo Rodriguez
, director of the district's sites and facilities department staff, said the district has an inventory of materials and items that contain or might asbestos. He said the tables are on the top of the list for replacement.
"They are inspected by law every three years but our custodians perform monthly inspections to make sure they are properly maintained,'' Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said because of the Danbury High incident, he intends to become a certified asbestos trainer so he can quickly train new staff members how to deal with asbestos.
Brooks Laboratories
in New Haven tested the school Thursday and found elevated levels of asbestos in the science classroom but not in the corridor or nearby rooms.
On Friday, New England Yankee Construction of Milford wiped down all the surfaces in the affected classroom and swept dust with a special vacuum.
Jack Kozuchowski
, Danbury's director of the department of environment and occupational health, said he was happy with the school district's response to the incident.
"I think we absolutely needed to be overly thorough. We took extreme measures,'' he said. "In the old days, no one would have blinked in cleaning this up. We did a fully licensed clean up."
Kozuchowski said Brooks would conduct further tests on air samples and the classroom would be reopened only if asbestos levels had dropped below federal standards.
William Murray
, president of the Danbury teachers union, works at the high school and knew the wing was closed off. However, he said Friday he had not talked to any teachers who were upset.
"No one complained to me at all. They were assured it was going to be taken care of,'' Murray said.
Sherry Stottle, Danbury High's parent representative on the city-wide PTO, said she had not heard from any worried parents.
"I have no worries. They sealed the wing off,'' she said. "I really trust
Cathy Richard
. She's on top of things all the time."
Danbury High PTO president
Stephanie Dalfonzo
sent out 200 e-mails to parents. A few thanked her for the information, but no one seemed alarmed, she said.
Dalfonzo said the school moved promptly to address the problem and communicated well with parents. "It quelled fears,'' she said.